GoldCoast Global HQ Grand Opening 08.01

Every corner of the GoldCoast headquarters had some sort of simple and angular installation. Photo: Esther Merono

GoldCoast celebrated the opening of their new global headquarters, right here in Salt Lake City, on Aug. 1 with an epic party. The event was held at their new office, located at 150 Commonwealth Ave. #2 (across from Pat’s BBQ) in conjunction with Nixon watches, Poler Stuff, Loser Skateboard Company and Nike Snowboarding. The office was clean and the showroom displays looked on point. They’ve chosen to go with a bright, minimalist aesthetic for their new offices, which parallels their dedication to clean-cut designs on all of their products and decks. GoldCoast and their co-hosts pulled out all the stops for this event, with free PBR and Mexican food for attendees. The Green Apple Juice Company even showed up to support with super delicious, fresh squeezed juice—all of this in a jovial atmosphere that drew everyone from local skate rats and snow hounds to visitors from the Outdoor Retailers happening that week.

A huge factor in the great atmosphere was an awesome photo gallery featuring a collection by SLUG’s very own Weston Colton. His skate photography is intuitive and inspirational. It has a laidback feeling to it, though Weston puts a great amount of work into all of his prints, and brings a great simplicity back to skate photography. It’s no surprise that his work was chosen by GoldCoast, as his photography is professional, but still imbues the spirit of adventure found in the simple (and technical) aspect of skateboarding. Weston was present at the event, telling us he couldn’t pick a favorite photo of his—and neither could we. If you haven’t seen Weston’s photos, check out SLUG Mag (he shoots our Skate Photo Feature every month), or visit his website. You will be glad you did.

Nixon also was premiering their newest audio product: A Bluetooth, shockproof, sleek-looking speaker box they have dubbed the “The Blaster.” This thing is super cool looking and bumps tunes how they should be: loud! The Blasters are so creatively designed, they debuted them with an installation showing just how fun-ctional and customizable they are. Local Salt Lake artist Dave Doman turned his Blaster into a minimalized piece of skatable art. His attention to detail and outside-the-box thinking made his piece my show favorite, but there were also tons of other awesome designs, including one that had been literally tattooed on by local Cathedral Tattoo’s Jake Miller.

All in all, if you missed this event, you totally blew it. It was a great time with tons of great people who do a lot to make sure our snow and skate industries continually progress. Find GoldCoast products online at their website, or follow them at facebook.com/goldcoastskate.